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Thai PM insists she will not resign before polls

By PAPITCHAYA BOONNGOK and TIM SULLIVAN Associated Press

Posted:
12/09/2013 12:41:58 AM MST

Updated:
12/09/2013 11:30:51 PM MST

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Thailand Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra arrives to talk to media after attending a Cabinet meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2013. Shinawatra said Tuesday she would not resign ahead of national elections set for Feb. 2, despite opposition demands she step down as the caretaker head of government.

BANGKOK—Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said Tuesday she would not resign ahead of national elections set for Feb. 2, her voice filling with emotion as she discussed her family's role in Thai politics.

Yingluck spoke one day after she announced elections—and one day after the main opposition leader ended a massive protest rally of 150,000 people by insisting his movement had now assumed broad political power.

The streets of Bangkok were quiet Tuesday, a national holiday, after weeks of sometimes violent political turmoil as protesters demand Yingluck give up power to an unelected "people's council.

Anti-government protesters stand near a concrete barrier that was removed during protests a day earlier, at the entrance to Government House in Bangkok, Thailand Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2013. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra dissolved Parliament's lower house on Monday and called early elections. But protesters seeking to topple her vowed to carry on their fight, saying they cannot win the polls because of corruption. ((AP Photo/Greg Baker))

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The protesters accuse Yingluck of serving as a proxy for her billionaire brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who lives in self-imposed exile to avoid jail time for a corruption conviction but still wields immense influence in the country.

She became choked up when reporters asked—as they often do—about her family's position in Thailand's political scene.

"I'm not without emotion," she said, her voice quavering. "I'm also Thai. Do you want me not to step a foot on Thai soil anymore?

"I have retreated as far as I can. So I ask to be treated fairly," she said, turning and walking quickly away from the podium.

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Her brother Thaksin, a former telecommunications billionaire, was toppled by a 2006 military coup that laid bare a deeper conflict between Thailand's elite and largely urban middle class on one side, and Thaksin's power base in the countryside on the other. That base benefited from his populist policies designed to win over the rural poor.

Ever since, the two sides have been dueling for power, sometimes violently. Since the latest unrest began last month, at least five people have been killed and at least 289 injured.

The latest round of protests started last month when Yingluck's party tried to pass a bill that would have granted amnesty to Thaksin and others.

Yingluck insisted Tuesday that she would remain the interim head of government until Feb. 2. "I must do my duty as caretaker prime minister according to the constitution," she said.

The protesters were not quieted by Monday's announcement of new elections, saying they cannot win the polls because of corruption. The opposition Democrat Party, allied with the protest movement, has been defeated by Thaksin-allied parties in every election since 2001.

A decree from King Bhumibol Adulyadej scheduled the elections on Feb. 2 and named Yingluck as interim prime minister until then.

A supporter watches as thousands of anti-government protesters march in a street in Bangkok, Thailand Monday, Dec. 9, 2013. Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra announced Monday she will dissolve the lower house of Parliament and call elections in an attempt to calm the country's deepening political crisis. The surprise move came as 100,000 protesters vowing to overthrow her government marched through the streets of Bangkok for a "final showdown." ((AP Photo/Greg Baker))

Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban, who faces an arrest warrant on insurrection charges, spoke to more than 150,000 followers Monday at a stage near Yingluck's offices, challenging authorities to "Come get me."

He said that his movement was assuming some functions of government, citing a clause in the constitution stating that "the highest power is the sovereign power of the people."

"This means that from now on the people will appoint the prime minister of the people and appoint the government of the people," he told a cheering crowd. "This means that from now on, we will have the people's council doing the legislating instead of the parliament, which is now dismissed."

Suthep challenged Yingluck to resign to make way for a new prime minister to be appointed outside of normal constitutional procedures.

But there was no sign Tuesday that Suthep's movement had assumed any government powers, or that Yingluck's administration would cede any to them.

Suthep on Monday called for civil servants to report to the protest group instead of the government, and urged citizens to set up their own neighborhood peacekeeping forces to take over from police. The protesters have castigated the police for being zealous defenders of the government.

If we lose to the "Thaksin regime," he said, "we will be their slaves until we die."

Tuesday was a national holiday in Thailand, so few civil servants went to work.

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